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Legislators Demand Action Against Common Core

Two months after the Academic Standards Review Commission issued its final report, the fate of Common Core in North Carolina is far from settled.

The State Board of Education will discuss the report’s findings next month.

Some legislative leaders contend that if the State Board doesn’t move to end Common Core Standards, the General Assembly will.

By A.P. Dillon

The controversy over the Common Core State Standards in North Carolina began over four years ago but the fate of the standards is still undecided.

The Academic Standards Review Commission tasked with reviewing the standards and suggesting a replacement met for 15 months. Their final meeting was in December 2015, when the majority of the commission turned on one of their own members over the math recommendations.

The attacks on the math recommendations were so bizarre that it left journalists watching the meeting scratching their heads and spurred Co-Chair Tammy Covil to break ranks by penning a dissenting opinion letter.

What resulted was arguably a watered-down restating of the task set forth for the commission by the legislature in Senate Bill 812.

Two months after the Academic Standards Review Commission held their final meeting and presented their reports, the State Board of Education has yet to take up the recommendations produced. However, that might change next month.

The sub-committee of the State Board of Education handling the recommendations is made up of two members, Eric Davis and Dr. Olivia Oxendine. Dr. Oxendine was also a member of the Academic Standards Review Commission. Oxendine’s involvement raises the question of whether or not she is too close to the issue to be impartial, given that she joined in on the attacks on the math group’s recommendations.

According to Sen. Jerry Tillman, State Superintendent June Atkinson told him the State Board of Education would be discussing the recommendations at the board’s March 2-3 meetings. Tillman’s bill, Senate Bill 812, authorized the Academic Standards Review Commission.

“June [Atkinson] told me that they were going to act on that in March. As soon as they act, I’ll be very anxious to see just what they do,” Tillman said.

In his conversation with me about the status of the recommendations, Tillman said that if the State Board doesn’t act to get rid of Common Core, the legislature would.

“I think they will make some changes for the sake of saying they did something,” Tillman said, referring to the Board of Education.

“If it’s just a revamp, if we don’t get away from Common Core – the legislation I wrote says we’re out of Common Core. If they don’t, we’re simply going to go back [and] get a bill done,” the senator said. He suggested it might be “a simpler, standalone bill that says we’ll do our own standards or you will adopt what the [Commission] draft report has said. We’re going to change the scene, especially in math.”

Tillman also indicated he didn’t have a lot of trust in the State Board at this point but would wait and see what happened. “I don’t know what it will take, but I’m going to wait until the State Board acts. I don’t have much confidence in them, to be honest with you,” he said.

On the House side of the legislature, Rep. Larry Pittman also produced a bill (House Bill 1061) that called for a commission to review the standards.

Rep. Pittman had been a fairly constant fixture at the commission’s meetings, so I caught up with him to see what his take was on the current status of the commission’s recommendations.

“As I attended the meetings of the Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC), I thought I saw progress being made toward actually getting a report from them against Common Core. They seemed to be doing honest research and discovering for themselves how outrageously foolish Common Core is,” Pittman said.

Pittman continued, “Tammy Covil and Dr. Ted Scheick did a valiant job of presenting the major idiocy of using Common Core. I had begun to hope the ASRC would actually deliver a report that would support moving us away from it.

“Unfortunately, in the end, the final report on the English Language Arts portion was one which could lead either way, toward actually adopting something better than Common Core or toward simply rebranding Common Core with some minor improvements,” he said.

On the topic of what action the State Board of Education might take, and if their decision was being influenced by outside parties, Pittman said, “I can not confirm it, but I have heard that Dr. Atkinson intends to ignore the ASRC’s recommendations, at least as far as they might be negative toward Common Core. That is what I would expect from her, anyway, as she has a vested interest in the issue.”

Pittman also is taking a wait-and-see approach, but made clear that he would act if the State Board did not take steps to move North Carolina away from Common Core.

“I will have to see what kind of proposals may come from any other committee that might discuss it, and be ready to offer amendments that would move us away from Common Core. If this can’t be done this year, then I will have to seek to introduce new legislation next year, if reelected, to do so,” he said.

The message here is clear – citizens and parents engaged on the issue of Common Core will have to wait alongside Tillman and Pittman until the State Board of Education takes up the recommendations.

What is also clear is that regardless of the State Board of Education’s decision, members of the General Assembly do not intend to allow Common Core to continue in North Carolina.

On the contrary, they are concerned about the concept. And they should be.

The math curriculum is the worst thing out there. My son in Math II almost had no chance if we had not spent a lot of time helping. First, there is no textbook digital or paper. Second, they are meshing in concepts from Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and other concepts that need to be studied on their own not just thrown in at one time. Luckily he made an A in the end, but we had to supplement a lot of the teaching with Kahn Academy and spending a lot of time re-teaching him at home.

Common Core is the antithesis of any Common Sense! I had trouble assisting my 6-year old granddaughter in her math homework. Using lines and circles and a concept that takes much longer to learn. My granddaughter was given homework which asked her to “Define the attributes of a pentagon”. What kind of insanity is that? She’s “6 years old”. I am so anxious for Common Core to be eliminated from our children’s classroom and GOOD RIDDANCE!

Common Core has only led to lower scores, unhappy parents, and demoralized children. Your children will have to go to a community college to get what they need before going to a university. It was formulated to be that way. It takes great literature out of the elementary years and forces non-fiction boring documentaries to read. It halts creativity. It encourages reading for business or reports to answer questions only (thank you Gates). Later, the literature is about politically social topics aka pedophiles, sex, and so much more. These do not belong in a classroom but as a personal choice. Most schools will not allow the child to opt out. The math is not logical for most kids until high school and maybe not then. They will miss out on curriculum they need to get to a college vs. community college. Furthermore, it has added to the totals moving from public school to private schools, home schools, and alternative schools. It is a social/educational experiment on the children and a disaster. I am sick of the folks who want it only because of social/political/educational data, corporate greed, state greed and other goals which are NOT for the children. I am tired of the folks who follow and do not research, feel helpless and will not take action. We, the parents, are our children’s guardians. Don’t let the government take that away. Common core does not want you involved at all. Think on that. It is time we got back to educating our children for the right reasons and not the ones generated by common core. Dare to allow your child excel and become an individual vs. being put down to one size fits all trend, community first, and teaching theories as fact. I say excellence over mere common and common opinion. Common core is NOT what education is supposed to be. We are not raising the bar but lowering it in all levels be it social or educational.